Comfort Women NOT Sex-Slaves March 24, 2016; New York Koichi Mera GAHT-US CORPORATION SANTA MONICA, CA 90403 Glendale, California, July 30, 2013 Statue of a Comfort Woman Central Park, Glendale, CA Plaque beside the Statue Popular Perception

• Glendale Inscription in 2013 – More than 200,000 women were coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Armed Forces of Japan between 1932 and 1945. • California Dept. of Education Proposal in 2015 – as an example of institutionalized sexual slavery and the largest cases of human trafficking – Hundreds of thousands of women were forced into these situations Prevalence of Sex-Slave Theory

• U.N. Coomaraswamy Report (1996) • George Hicks, The Comfort Women (1994) • U.S. House of Rep’s Resolution(2007) – All characterize Comfort Women as “Sex-Slaves” and were coercively recruited – Even some of the ex-Comfort Women tell they were taken away by Japanese military or police Sources of Misunderstanding

• Seiji Yoshida’s Book, My War Crimes (1983) – He led a team of soldiers to Cheju Island of and hunt 205 Young Women and sent them as Comfort Women – This book was translated into Korean language and published in 1989 Sources of Misunderstanding-2

• Asahi Newspaper publicized Yoshida’s story as factual • Yoshida’s book was discredited in 1989 by local newspaper reporter and in 1992 by Professor • However, Asahi Newspaper continued to publicize Yoshida’s story What They Were

• U.S. Office of War Information, Japanese Prisoners of War Information Report No. 49 (1944) found they were “prostitutes”. – They were paid well, and had luxurious life – They had picnics and parties with soldiers – Some soldiers got married with CWs – They could refuse service to whoever not welcome What They Were (2)

• They had good relationship with soldiers • They were admired by soldiers • They took good care of soldiers • There were no antagonism between them Other Sources of Information

• IWG Report of 2007 – Interagency Working Group of US Government confirmed there was no human right violation to Japanese military during the Wartime, spending $8 million and taking 7 years’ work. • Japan Government Research (2007) – Found no document supporting the coercive recruitment of Comfort Women. Exceptional Cases

• Semarang, Indonesia – Low level Japanese soldiers took Dutch female captives to Comfort Stations – As soon as the supervisors found the incident, they were returned, and those responsible were prosecuted and punished after the War. – A similar case in the Philippines, but not in Korea or Taiwan. Start of S Korean Propaganda

• The Government of S. Korea realized that they had a good chance of demanding apology and compensation after the apologies made by Japanese Prime Minister in 1992 when he visited S. Korea. – He made apologies on the basis of false information about Seiji Yoshida and Asahi Newspaper reporting. Japan Bashing by Koreans & Korean Americans • Japan-S. Korea Basic Treaty of 1965 settled all claims by either country for matters prior to 1945 by Japan donating $800 million to S. Korea. • S. Korea wanted more, but Japan maintained a firm position that even individual claims have been settled in 1965. • So, Koreans started Japan-bashing in U.S. and other countries. Japan-Bashing in the U.S.

• U.S. House Resolution condemning Japan on CW in 2007. • Korean-American organizations started building Comfort Women monuments in the U.S., the first in Palisades Park, New Jersey in 2010. • A whole Korean girl’s statue in Glendale, California in 2013. • Now proposal to add “Comfort Women’ in World History in California. Ｃｏｍｆｏｒｔ Ｗｏｍｅｎ Ｍｅｍｏｒｉａｌ ｉｎ Ｐａｌｉｓａｄｅｓ Ｐａｒｋ， ＮＪ Only Support for Korean Claim is Testimonials from Ex-Comfort Women

• Let us see them! Statements by Ex-Comfort Women

• Professor Ahn of Seoul National University who was closely involved in hearing testimonials, said they were not reliable. • The first ex-Comfort Woman who showed up, Kim Hak-sun stated that she was first sold by her mother to Kisaeng School, and then sent to a Comfort Station by her father-in-law. Statements by Ex-Comfort Women-2

• Professor C. Sarah Soh, San Francisco State U. published “The Comfort Women” in 2008. She is an anthropologist from Korea, and examined ex-Comfort Women from S. Korea: – They were not coercively recruited by Japanese military or police, – They expressed their life stories freely earlier, but – Later on, their testimonial narratives were altered to be consistent with coercive recruitment theory Statement by ex-Comfort Women-3

• Superstar, Young-su Lee’s case. – She said in the beginning that she sneaked out of home early in the morning with a friend to a recruiter where she received a red dress and a pair of leather shoes to her excitement. – Later testimonials are different: she told the Subcommittee of the U.S, House of Representatives in 2007 that she was taken away by a Japanese person and a girl while she was in bed at night. Contributions by Prof. Park Yuha

• Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University published The Comfort Women of an Empire in Korean in 2013, and in 2014 in Japanese. Her main points are: – Korean Comfort Women were not coercively recruited – Many were sold by parents – They earned good income – Total number was much less than 200,000. Japan-S. Korea Agreement of December 28, 2015 • This was made by Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, to strengthen Japan’s defense against possible attacks from North Korea. Japan was perhaps successful in terminating S. Korean Government’s Japan-bashing. But, Japan-bashing outside of the two countries will continue. Japan’s Government Statements

• On February 2016, Deputy Minister of Japan’s Ministry of foreign Affairs, Shinsuke Sugiyama made statement at the U.N. Committee Meeting on Japan of Human Rights in Geneva that – Comfort Women were not Sex-Slaves – They were not recruited coercively – The number of them were not 200,000. but much less. CONCLUSIONS

• The Government of Japan finally made an explicit statement on Comfort Women. • For the reasons I have given, the Comfort Women were NOT sex-slaves. • Even scholars from Korea are stating they were not coercively recruited. • This information should be spread widely.